All Black eyes Top 14 semis before New Zealand return
PREVIEW: Toulon entertain Castres in the French Top 14 play-offs on Saturday with centre Leicester Fainga’anuku hoping his time on the Cote d’Azur is extended for at least another week.
Fainga’anuku will end his two-year stay at Toulon at the end of the season before going back to the Crusaders.
The 25-year-old arrived at Stade Mayol after the 2023 World Cup and has scored 15 tries in 38 appearances for the southern outfit.
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“The real reason for my departure is that with my partner Terena we have a son and we think it’s important that Zaya can spend time with family and friends back at home,” Fainga’anuku told newspaper L’Equipe this week.
“We love Toulon but we owe that to our son,” he added.
Fainga’anuku’s return to New Zealand will offer him the chance to add to his seven Test appearances with All Black coach Scott Robertson barred from selecting players based abroad.
The Tonga-born midfielder has kept in touch with Robertson during his spell in the Top 14 as he helped Toulon to a third-placed finish in the table.
“He likes to know how things are going for me here,” Fainga’anuku said of Roberston.
“We talk in a friendly way.
“I like a lot that he’s left the door open for me with the All Blacks,” he added.
‘Contrasting feelings’
This weekend, Fainga’anuku will have his focus on claiming a semifinal spot against Bordeaux-Begles with a win over Castres, who were in sixth place at the end of the regular season.
The Top 14 Final takes place on June 28 in Paris.
“I have contrasting feelings,” Fainga’anuku said.
“I’m excited to go home but at the same time, I will miss life here,” he added.
In the other play-off, Bayonne return to the knock-out stages of the French top division for the first time since 1992 as they host Clermont, champions in 2010 and 2017.
The Basque outfit avoided the relegation play-off last season by just eight points but are the only unbeaten outfit at home in the competition this term.
The winner of the tie at a sold-out Stade Jean-Dauger will face record 23-time champions Toulouse next Friday in Lyon in the other semi.
Bayonne’s hopes of reaching the last four have been dealt a blow with former England centre Manu Tuilagi sidelined with a rib issue to face Les Jaunards.
“It’s going to be fricking incredible,” Bayonne’s English lock Alex Moon told this week’s Rosbifs Rugby Podcast about the game.
“They’re a big team, it’s about getting the body fresh because it’s going to be physical” the 28-year-old added.
Elsewhere this weekend, second-tier Grenoble face the Top 14’s Perpignan in the promotion play-off.
It’s the Pro D2 outfit’s third straight involvement in the fixture after a loss to Montpellier last season and defeat to the Catalans two years ago.
